EP0068340B1 - Folding apparatus - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a folding apparatus for the production of folding products provided with a cross-fold parallel smooth cut with at least one cylinder provided with folding jaws, which is attached to a cylinder provided with at least one folding knife and in the area between its folding jaws is each equipped with a scissors-type knife which is equipped with a counter knife cooperates, and with controlled lifting tongues engaging in the folding flaps that release the cross-folded products.

In the known arrangements of this type, the excavation tongues are arranged stationary in the direction of rotation outside the respectively assigned flap cylinder. Since the scissor-cut knives protrude slightly beyond the circumference of the assigned flap cylinder, the lifting recesses which engage in the flap-cylinder must, if they are arranged on this scissor-cut knife, which is the case with folders with only one flap cylinder, with each end of a scissor-cut knife with its end engaging in the fold-flaps be lifted over the scissors-cutting knife to prevent collisions between the excavation bars and the scissors-cutting knives passing by. If the products removed from the folding jaws are transferred to a belt guide in the area of the lifting holes, it is to be feared that the lifting arms press the products against the belts of the upper belt set of the belt guide resting on the assigned folding jaw cylinder or push them up between these belts, which leads to damage the folded products or smearing of the fresh print. In addition, it can be assumed that due to the clamping effect caused by the excavations, proper transport of the folded products can be omitted, which can lead to irregularities in the product flow and thus to faults in downstream processing devices. A very general disadvantage of the stationary lift-outs can be seen, however, in the fact that the products moving with the flap cylinder circumferential speed run up with their front edges on the standing lift-outs and graze along them. This leads to a very high mechanical stress on the paper from which the folded products usually consist and the normally still fresh print and can therefore also contribute to severe damage and thus to increase the amount of waste.

Attempts have also already been made (DE-A-3 030 706) to provide controlled lifting tabs on ordered lifting riders instead of controlled lifting tongues on a gripper cylinder hit on the relevant folding jaw member. However, the use of an additional gripper cylinder proves to be not only very complex, but also with regard to the Accessibility of the assigned folding jaw cylinder is very bulky, which can be very disruptive, especially when setting the scissor cut knives and the like. Arrangements of this type are therefore not user-friendly enough.

Proceeding from this, it is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a folder of the type mentioned at the beginning with simple and therefore inexpensive means, in which not only gentle handling of the folded products is guaranteed when lifting out the folded products and smearing of the printed image is excluded, but in that a reliable, uniform removal of the excavated products is also ensured, and yet it has good accessibility to its organs to be adjusted and is therefore extremely user-friendly.

This object is achieved in that at least one stationary guide table is provided in the area in addition to the circumference of the cylinder receiving the jaws cooperating with the lift flaps, and that the lift tabs are received on the cylinder carrying the assigned jaws and can be activated when passing each guide table.

Due to their arrangement on the cylinder receiving the assigned folding jaws, the lifting tongues advantageously have the same speed as the folding products to be lifted out of the assigned folding jaw, so that during the lifting process there are no significant relative movements between the lifting tongues and the folding products, which is very gentle affects the products and the printed image. The excavated products are transferred to a standing guide table, which ensures reliable guidance and at the same time allows sufficient space for unhindered passage of the scissor-cutting knives. These can therefore be arranged on the last jaw cylinder in the working direction, which is inevitably the case where only one jaw cylinder is provided. The measures according to the invention can therefore be used with particular advantage in the case of folding apparatuses for producing once folded products and provided with a smooth cut that is parallel to the transverse fold. In the event that the products are handed over to a belt guide leading, for example, to a device for producing a second longitudinal fold, the stationary arrangement of the associated control table ensures a constant distance between the table support and the belts beyond which the other belts are held. On the other hand, however, the belts of the upper, over walking away from the control table The set of tapes lies snugly on the assigned jaw cylinder, which ensures that the products are securely drawn into the tape guide. The stationary control tables also require relatively little space, so that the accessibility of the associated jaw cylinder is practically not affected.

In an expedient further development of the superordinate measures, the guide table or the guide tables with their contact surface can be oriented approximately tangentially to the circumference of the assigned folding jaw cylinder, which practically results in a deflection-free drawing of the products into the belt guide.

A further advantageous measure can consist in the fact that the guide table or the guide tables is or are tapered like a wedge cylinder. This ensures that the contact surface of the guide tables can reach up to the area of the cylinder surface and nevertheless sufficient stability is ensured.

According to an expedient embodiment, the control table or the control tables can consist of guide tongues arranged next to one another at a distance. These can come into rake-like engagement with the lifting tongues that are received on the folding jaw cylinder and move past them, which ensures trouble-free insertion of the products into the belt guide.

According to a further development of the superordinate measures, a lifter bar equipped with a plurality of lifting tongues distributed over the cylinder width can be provided in the area of each folding jaw, which is expediently arranged in the direction of rotation in front of the assigned folding jaw. With their rear ends in the direction of rotation, the lifting tongues engaging under the folding product held in the respectively assigned folding flap are advantageously dragged past the assigned control table, which can have an advantageous effect on operational safety.

A further expedient development of the superordinate measures can consist in the fact that the lifting bar is pivotably mounted in the lateral cylinder flanges and is connected outside of it with a pivoting lever which is provided with a feeler element which scans a control curve arranged fixed to the frame. These measures result in a particularly simple, yet very robust design.

A further development of these measures can consist in the fact that the control curve can be adjusted about the axis of the assigned jaw cylinder. This measure advantageously enables the activation of the excavations at different points, so that alternatively operable displays can be provided. A guide table is expediently provided in the area of each delivery.

• Fig. 1 eine Seitenansicht eines erfindungsgemäßen Falzapparats mit einer zu einem Schwertfalzwerk führenden Bandführung und einem alternativ hierzu beaufschlagbaren Schaufelrad und
• Fig. 2 ein Beispiel für die Lagerung und Steuerung der Aushebezungen anhand eines Axialschnitts durch den zugeordneten Falzklappenzylinder.

Further expedient further developments and advantageous refinements of the superordinate measures result from the following description of a particularly preferred exemplary embodiment with reference to the drawing in conjunction with the remaining subclaims. In the drawing shows

• Fig. 1 is a side view of a folder according to the invention with a tape guide leading to a sword folding mechanism and an alternatively loadable paddle wheel and
• Fig. 2 shows an example of the storage and control of the excavation by means of an axial section through the associated jaw cylinder.

The folding apparatus shown in FIG. 1 consists of a folding jaw cylinder 1, which is provided with two folding jaws 2 and against which a folding knife cylinder 4 provided with a folding blade 3 is employed, which in turn cooperates with a cutting cylinder 5 to form a cross cutting device. The cutting cylinder 5 is provided with a cutter bar 6 which interacts with a cutting groove 7 provided on the folding cutter cylinder 4. The paper web 8 entering the cross cutter, which is to be guided over a folding former 9 to produce a first longitudinal fold, is divided into arcuate products, the front end of which is received by punctures 10 arranged on the folding knife cylinder 4 and acting in the direction of rotation behind the cutting groove 7. In the area of contact between the folding knife cylinder 4 and the folding jaw cylinder 1, the arcuate products are transferred from the folding knife 3 to the opposite folding jaw 2 of the folding jaw cylinder 1, forming a transverse fold. The once cross-folded products are removed from the folding jaw cylinder 1 and either placed as so-called tabloid products in a paddle wheel 11 arranged below the folding jaw cylinder 1 or fed via a belt guide 12 to a sword folding mechanism 13 for producing a second longitudinal fold.

The cross section caused by the interaction of knife bar 6 and cutting groove 7 usually has the shape of a so-called sawtooth cut. Furthermore, the punctures 10 cause permanent punctures in the area of the leading edges of the sheet. It is therefore often desirable to remove the rear product ends after the transverse fold has taken place by means of a clean, smooth cut. For this purpose, the jaw cylinder 1 is equipped in the area between its jaw cylinder 2 with scissors-type cutters 14 which cooperate with a counter knife 16 arranged on a cutting cylinder 15 arranged on the jaw cylinder 1 and arranged downstream of the jaw cylinder 4 in the direction of rotation of the jaw cylinder. The rear ends of the folding edge 2 are held in the folding flap 2 which precedes in the direction of rotation in each case by the scissor-cut knife 14 and the associated counter knife 16 folded products in the form of a smooth cut. The separated strips are picked up, for example, by needles arranged downstream of the counter knife 16 on the cutting cylinder 15 and then sucked off by the latter. For this purpose, the cutting cylinder 15 is immersed in a suction channel 17 which can be subjected to a vacuum.

In the entrance area of the belt guide 12 and in the area between the folding jaw cylinder 1 and the paddle wheel 11 located underneath, a guide table 18 is provided which is fixed to the frame walls and whose table support 19 is oriented approximately tangentially to the circumference of the folding jaw cylinder 1. When passing one of the guide tables 18, the jaws 2 of the jaw cylinder 1 are opened automatically. In order to lift the folding products out of the opened folding jaws 2, lifting tongues 20 are provided on the folding jaw cylinder 1 in the area of each folding jaw 2, which with their ends engage under the folding products which protrude into the respectively assigned folding jaw 2 and when they pass the relevant guide table 18 from the assigned folding jaw 2 lift and hand over to the control table 18. The guide tables 18 can expediently be formed by a plurality of tongues arranged next to one another at a distance, which are laterally offset in the axial direction with respect to the guide tongues 20, so that the activated lifting tongues 20, which in the activated state assume approximately the position indicated by broken lines in FIG. 1, can hereby engage in arithmetic, which enables the products to be reliably transferred to the respective control table 18. The cylinder-side end of the guide tables 18 is so far apart from the periphery of the adjacent jaw cylinder 1 that the scissor-cut blades 14 projecting slightly over the periphery can pass unhindered. In the illustrated embodiment, the guide tables 18 are tapered wedge-like on the cylinder side, so that the required distance from the jaw cylinder 1 is minimized.

The band guide 12 leading to the sword folding mechanism 13 consists of an upper band set 21 and a lower band set 22. The bands of the upper band set 21 lie snugly on the flap cylinder 1 and run with a small distance corresponding to the product thickness, which is the distance between the facing bands corresponds to the upper and lower belt guides 21 and 22, respectively, over the bearing surface 19 of the guide table 18 arranged at the entrance to the belt guide 12. In an extension of the support surface 19 of the guide table 18 provided at the entrance to the belt guide 12, the lower belt guide 22, which is correspondingly shortened compared to the upper belt guide 21, is provided. The bands of the band guide 12 run at a speed corresponding to the peripheral speed of the jaw cylinder 1.

The ends of the lifting tongues 20 which come into engagement with the respective product to be lifted thus have, in the activated state, indicated by broken lines in FIG. 1, practically the same speed as the bands of the band guide 12, so that when the latter is taken over from the associated folding flap 2 excavated product by the band guide 12 results in no relative movement between the product drawn into the band guide 12 and the lifting tongues 20. The same also applies to the lifting process itself, since the lifting tongues 20 are arranged to be fixed in the direction of rotation relative to the product engaging in the respectively assigned folding jaw 2 due to their arrangement on the folding jaw cylinder 1.

Above the guide table 18 assigned to the paddle wheel 11, a pressure roller 23 is provided, which prevents the ends of the products running onto the guide table 18 assigned to the paddle wheel 11 from tipping over and ensures reliable transport of these products already released by the respectively assigned folding flap 2.

In order to accommodate the lifting tongues 20, which are arranged approximately uniformly distributed over the entire length of the folding jaw, a pivotably mounted lifter bar 24 is provided in the area of each folding jaw, on which the individual lifting tongues 20 can be detachably fixed, for example by screws. The jaws 2, d. H. whose fixed stop bar and pivoting swivel bar are provided over their length with several, provided in the axial region of the lifting tongues 20 interruptions, in which the lifting tongues 20 can engage in their rest position, indicated by solid lines in FIG. 1, in which they the front edge of the in grasp the product that engages the respectively assigned flap 2. The lifting tongues 20 can simply be formed by wire or sheet metal brackets, which can expediently be bent in accordance with the curvature of the folding jaw cylinder 1 receiving them. The lifter bar 24 is arranged in the direction of rotation in front of the respectively assigned folding flap 2. The lifting tongues 20 thus engage with their rear end in the direction of rotation in the respectively associated interruption of the associated folding flap 2. The ends of the excavation tongues 20 which reach under the product to be lifted are dragged past the control table 18 to which a product transfer is to take place and can therefore be rejected in an advantageous manner without interference.

The lifter bar 24 is, as can best be seen from FIG. 2, pivotably mounted in lateral edge flanges 26 placed on the axis 25 of the jaw cylinder 1. At one end, the lifter bar 24 is extended beyond the associated swivel bearing and is provided with a swivel lever 27 fastened to it, on which a feeler roller 28 is rotatably supported, which is guided along a control curve 29, the contour of which results in the activation of the lifting tongues 20 at the desired location. The control cam 29 is integrally formed on a ring 30 which is rigidly attached to the adjacent frame side wall 31 with respect to the rotatably mounted folding jaw cylinder 1. The control curve 29 assigned to the lifting tongues 20 is designed here as an inner curve. The folding jaws 2 are likewise controlled in a similar manner by means of a control curve, which can expediently be designed as an outer curve. In a preferred manner, the control curve assigned to the folding jaws 2 can also be integrally formed on the ring 30 as the outer curve 32 opposite the control curve 29, which results in a particularly compact design.

If, as in the exemplary embodiment shown, the cross-folded products in the region of various guide tables 18 are to be removable from the folding jaw cylinder 1, the folding jaws 2 and the lifting recesses 20 assigned to them must be activated at correspondingly different circumferential positions. In the exemplary embodiment shown, the ring 30 receiving the control cams 29 and 32 is simply arranged to be rotatable about the axis 25 of the jaw cylinder 1. For this purpose, the ring 30 is provided with arcuate guide slots indicated at 33 in FIG. 1, into which guide pins fixed in the frame engage. In the illustrated embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, shoes 34 engaging in the guide slots 33 are provided, which are provided with a thread for receiving retaining screws 35 which pass through the frame side wall 31 and have their heads supported thereon. After loosening the retaining screws 35, the ring 30 can be brought into the desired rotational position. For this purpose, the ring 30 is provided with a blind bore 36 into which an adjusting rod can be inserted, which enables the ring 30 to be easily rotated. To ensure a quick, yet exact setting of the ring 30, corresponding markings 37 can be provided in the region of the facing side of the frame side wall 31, which are easy to align with a pointer 38 molded onto the ring 30.

Although a preferred exemplary embodiment of the invention has been explained in more detail above, this is not intended to imply any limitation. Rather, a number of options are available to the person skilled in the art to adapt the general idea of the solution according to the invention to the circumstances of the individual case.

Claims (10)

1. A folder for producing signatures with a smooth cut parallel to a crossfold, having at least one cylinder (1) with folding jaws (2) positioned for working with a cylinder (4) having at least one tucker blade (3), and having between its folding jaws (2) one scissor-action knife (14) for use with an opposite knife, and controlled lifting fingers (20) designed to be moved into gaps in the folding jaws as the latter are handing on the cross- folded signatures, characterized in that at least one fixed guide tabe (18) is provided near the outer face of the cylinder (1) with the folding jaws (2) designed for use with the lifting fingers (20), and that the lifting fingers (20) are placed on the cylinder (1) with the folding jaws (20) and are operated each time they pass a guide table (18).

2. A folder as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that each guide table (18) preferably consisting of guide fingers positioned at a distance next to each other, has a support face (19) which is generally tangential to the outer face of the folding jaw cylinder (1) and becomes narrower like a wedge on the side nearest to the cylinder.

3. A folder as claimed in anyone of the preceding claims, characterized in that near each folding jaw (2) handing on the signatures there is a lifting finger support bar (24) stretching along the full cylinder width with several lifting fingers (20) fixed to it and spaced out evenly over the cylinder width.

4. A folder as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that the lifting finger support bar (24) is placed in the direction of turning in front of the folding jaw (2) with which it is used and that the back ends of the lifting fingers (20) fixed to it are positioned under the signature hold by the corresponding folding jaw.

5. A folder as claimed in claim 3 or claim 4, characterized in that the lifting finger support bar (24) is turningly bearing at the end plates (26) of the cylinder and furthermore is connected with a turning arm (27) which has a pickup tracing a cam (29) fixed to the frame and preferably facing inward.

6. A folder as claimed in claim 5, characterized in that several, preferably two guide tables (18) designed to take signatures alternatingly are provided and that the cam (29) round the axis of the cylinder can be adjusted at an angle respective to the distance between the guide tables (18).

7. A folder as claimed in claim 6, characterized in that the cam (29) is placed on a ring (30) which has a device designed for the connection of an actuating tool preferably near its radial outer face, and curved slots (33) with guide pins holding shoes (34) locked in position by fixing screws (35).

8. A folder as claimed in anyone of the preceding claims 5 to 7, characterized in that the cam (29) used with the lifting fingers (20) and a cam (32) which is used with the respective folding jaws (2) are positioned at the same support.

9. A folder as claimed in anyone of the preceding claims with at least one support belt system placed after the folding jaw cylinder (1), preferably leading to a folder for producing a second long fold and being made up of an upper belt group and a lower belt group (21 and 22 respectively), characterized in that the upper belt group (21) rests on the folding jaw cylinder (1) and that the lower belt group (22) is placed in prolongation of the fixed guide table (18) in use.

10. A folder as claimed in anyone of the preceding claims with at least one fan wheel (11) designed to take signatures directly from the folding jaw cylinder (1), characterized in that a presser roller (23) positioned for working with the folding jaw cylinder (1) is placed before the guide table (18) used with the fan wheel (11).

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